Willard v. United States

299 F. Supp. 1175, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8612
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Mississippi
DecidedMay 28, 1969
DocketNo. GC 6819
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 299 F. Supp. 1175 (Willard v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Willard v. United States, 299 F. Supp. 1175, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8612 (N.D. Miss. 1969).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ORMA R. SMITH, District Judge.

On May 17, 1968, the plaintiff, Milton J. Willard, filed a complaint in the aforesaid cause of action which complaint alleges in essence that when hq was arrested and placed in the city jail of Greenville, Mississippi, on November 10, 1966, and retained there through November 17, 1966, he was denied access to medicine and denied access to a doctor which he needed for his physical health. He was arrested on suspicion of bank robbery and was subsequently tried and found guilty, in the case of United States of America v. Willard, Criminal [1176]*1176Action No. 4031, United States District Court, Southern District of Mississippi. A transcript of the proceeding in this case has been made a part of the record in the case sub judice.

This record reflects that on June 9, 1967, the Court considered a motion for a new trial. The substance of the motion for a new trial concerned whether certain admissions which Willard had made while in custody in the Greenville jail between November 10, 1966, and November 17, 1966, should have been excluded at the trial. One factor which Willard alleged to prove that the admissions should have been excluded was the fact that he was denied medicine and denied access to a doctor on November 10, 1966, through the investigatory procedures up to November 15, 1966. A full and complete hearing was made of the motion for a new trial; Willard was allowed to call witnesses in his behalf; he was represented by counsel; and a transcript was made of the hearing.

Willard stated that he did not have any pain in his stomach during the four or five days before he saw a doctor because he did not eat any food during these four or five days. (Record of hearing June 9,1967, P. 58 and 59)

Doctor George W. Eubanks testified that he saw Willard on November 11, 1966, at around 11:00 a. m. and on November 15, 1966, at around 11:00 a. m. He diagnosed Willard’s condition as nervous indigestion. (Record P. 66) He further testified that Willard did not seem any more nervous than other patients in the jail. (Record P. 67)

Gatewood Hamm, Jail Superintendent of the city jail of Greenville, testified that Willard was provided special food for breakfast while incarcerated in the Greenville jail. (Record P. 71)

John Puddister, Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, testified that when he interviewed Willard on the night of November 10, 1966, Willard did not ask to secure any medication. (Record P. 105) He further testified that Willard did not ask to secure any medication at any of the interviews subsequent to November 10, 1966. (Record P. 106)

After hearing all of the testimony, Judge Harold Cox, Trial Judge, made the following statement:

“I don’t think that Mr. Willard was mistreated by anybody, anywhere at any time, as a matter of fact I don’t even think that he is sick. I think that anybody that didn’t have a nervous stomach like his doctor said he had would be quite an unusual individual with the experience that he had just gone through and I believe his doctor diagnosed him as having nervous indigestion. Well, he would have to'have some kind of constitution to just have nervous indigestion and no more after the experience that he had just gone through.” (Record P. 112)

In the present civil action Willard makes the following statements as to the damages which he has suffered:

“Plaintiff can only state that by refusing plaintiff medical care did place plaintiff’s life in jeopardy. By placing plaintiff’s health and mental condition in the most severe jeopardy and that plaintiff did suffer a great deal both then and later”.

And further in the prayer for relief, he prays for damages of One Million Dollars, and further protection and safeguards for his impaired health and the violation of his constitutional rights.

A number of motions have been made in this action. On June 17, 1968, Willard made a motion for appointment of counsel and the motion was denied by the Court on June 18, 1968. On August 21, 1968, the government filed a motion to dismiss alleging as grounds that the issue in the complaint had been litigated in full in The United States of America v. Milton J. Willard, Criminal Action No. 4031, United States District Court, Southern District of Mississippi, and that the civil action was an attempt to re-litigate the same issue. On August 26, 1968, Willard filed a motion to subpoena witnesses and a motion to subpoe[1177]*1177na to produce documents and papers. On August 29, 1968, he filed an answer to the motion to dismiss of the government. On September 9, 1968, the government filed exhibits to the motion to dismiss. On September 13, 1968, Willard filed a motion to overrule the government’s motion to dismiss and a motion for trial by jury. On April 14, 1969, Willard filed a motion for a writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum and a motion for assistance of counsel.

All outstanding motions were scheduled for Motions Day Wednesday, April 30, 1969, in the United States District Court, Oxford, Mississippi. Prior to the hearing, the government filed a memorandum brief in support of the motion to dismiss. At the hearing the Court questioned the government as to the validity and substance of the motion to dismiss and all other outstanding motions.

The Court is cognizant of the well established rule that in in forma pauperis proceedings of a civil nature, the granting or refusing of such procedure is within the sound discretion of the District Court. Weller v. Dickson, 314 F.2d 598, 9 Cir. 1963; Smart v. Heinze, 347 F.2d 114, 9 Cir. 1965; Irwin v. Burson, 389 F.2d 63, 5 Cir. 1967. In the case sub judice the Court initially granted the plaintiff the right to proceed in forma pauperis on the filing of the complaint. Yet as the case developed and more information was placed in the record, it became increasingly apparent to the Court that the gravamen of the complaint is frivolous.

As set forth in Williams v. Field, 394 F.2d 329, 9 Cir. 1968, the statute (28 U.S.C. § 1915(d)) does not prescribe the manner in which the District Judge shall become “satisfied” that an action is frivolous or malicious. The ultimate determination is in the sound discretion of the District Judge, and each case must be scrutinized on its particular facts and circumstances.

After thoroughly reviewing the record of the United States of America v. Milton J. Willard, Criminal Action No. 4031, United States District Court, Southern District of Mississippi, this Court is satisfied that the plaintiff, who was then a defendant, had ample opportunity, and did, bring out all of the substantive facts surrounding the alleged denial of the medicine and the denial of the right to see a doctor on November 10, 1966 through November 15, 1966. It goes without saying that in the criminal case, the trial judge was concerned with whether or not to exclude certain admissions made by Willard during the incustody interrogation.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
299 F. Supp. 1175, 1969 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8612, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/willard-v-united-states-msnd-1969.